Planning Versus Winging It: How RVers Choose Where to Camp

RV Life

The Right Tools Can Help You Decide Where to Camp, While Still Feeling Spontaneous

Every year, we talk to hundreds of RVers. We ask them how they decide where to camp, which campgrounds to go to, and how they get there safely. There are a variety of strategies, but they can be divided into two primary camps. Those are the planning crowd and the spontaneous crowd.

You’d think the size of the RV would dictate which crowd those RVers would be in when they decide where to camp. But that just isn’t always the case. We’ve seen 40-foot fifth-wheel owners in the spontaneous crowd, and folks towing 20-foot travel trailers plan to the nth degree. Before we proceed, we should define the two styles.

The Planners: “If It’s Not on the Itinerary, It’s Not Happening.”

When many people begin RVing, they become a “Planner” from day one. To figure out where to camp, Planners use RV trip-planning tools and apps like RV LIFE Pro, which features the well-known RV LIFE Trip Wizard. With these tools, you can sit at your computer or tablet weeks or even months ahead of time and address and eliminate any and all travel concerns you may have.

Planners take advantage of features like satellite view, street view, elevation, and gradient charting. They create What-if trips, Just-in-case trips, Dream trips, and Bucket-list trips. Then they add in every stop they plan to make, from mundane bathroom breaks to breathtaking views at scenic overlooks. They might even plan for emergencies by scouting ahead for hospitals and veterinarian locations. Planners leave nothing to chance!

Planners also use memberships like Harvest Hosts to find unique locations to add some excitement and variety to their journey. Harvest Hosts locations are now built into RV LIFE Trip Wizard for Harvest Hosts members and can be seamlessly integrated into RV trip-planning. Harvest Hosts locations let users to enjoy those unique experiences along their route. Think camping at a winery, a farm, or an airplane museum. All while still fulfilling the desire to thoroughly plan a cohesive RV trip.

Planners Have the Navigation Advantage. Here’s Why

The biggest advantage Planners have is that by utilizing a complete trip-planning suite, there is no disconnect between the route they planned and how they get there. If you decide to take a more scenic route to that amazing Harvest Hosts destination you have been dreaming of, your navigation app should be consistent and yield to the route you planned. In most cases, however, a GPS will simply choose the fastest route.

RV LIFE Trip Wizard members not only have the benefit of adding that Harvest Hosts location directly to their trip, but the RV LIFE Mobile app also allows them to select a trip from the menu and follow it the way they planned it. If the route you are planning is not RV-safe, you’ll know early on. And during that planning stage, changes can be made well in advance. There are no unforeseen curve balls or curvy roads … you see it all ahead of time.

The Spontaneous: “We’ll Tell You Where We’re Going When We Know.”

RV Trip Wizard display with Harvest Hosts locations. — *Harvest Hosts locations using RV LIFE Trip Wizard*.

As we said, we have spoken to a lot of RVers. What always surprises us the most is the folks who don’t plan where to camp much at all. It’s not that they don’t know where they are going. They do. They just may not know very far in advance exactly where they are going and where they will stay. Decisions are made last minute or even on the fly, based on whatever strikes their mood and schedule. They’ll decide where to camp when they need to and not a minute sooner.

“Spontaneous Campers” tend to use a lot of apps to get the job done. The aforementioned Harvest Hosts is a popular tool for the spontaneous crowd as well. The variety of unique camping destinations Harvest Hosts offers fuels the wanderlust of Spontaneous Campers as much as the Planners.

Rest area apps, gas station apps, other campground membership apps and tools, and Google are all part of their trip-planning arsenal. Choosing where to camp in this ad-hoc fashion isn’t wrong; it’s just different and more labor-intensive. Some would argue it’s a purer form of RVing, while others would say it’s too risky, since many tools don’t provide RV-save routing.

Spontaneous Travelers Rely on GPS. But at What Risk?

Like the Planners, the Spontaneous Campers also prefer RV-safe navigation if they can get it. It may come from a variety of sources. That would include the RV LIFE mobile app, a stand-alone RV GPS, or even non-RV tools such as Google Maps or Waze. While the latter tools are handy, they are not without risk. After all, neither takes your RVs height, weight, and length into consideration when deciding where to camp.

The real difference between the Spontaneous RVer and the Planner is that Planners are almost always following a carefully planned and vetted route that they have decided to follow, rather than just allowing the GPS to take them on the journey instead. While no solution is perfect, to me this is like going to Vegas for the first time and only seeing what the cab driver wants you to see, rather than going where you really wanted to go.

Does Spontaneous Planning Exist?

Harvest Hosts offers unique camping spots. Shown here are a golf course. open field with cows, a vineyard, and a brewery. — *Harvest Hosts offers all kinds of unique camping spots—think vineyards, breweries, golf courses, farms, even airplane museums.*

So, is it possible to plan spontaneously, or is that just hyperbole? I think it’s possible to carefully plan where to camp while still retaining a measure of spontaneity. The difference is that some of that spontaneity is felt earlier, at the planning stage. Non-planners underestimate the fun and excitement of planning a great RV trip. Not being in a rush or having a hard deadline makes choosing what to do far more efficient and more fun.

While planning where to camp, you may spontaneously decide that instead of stopping at a farmers market during that leg of your journey, why not camp at one with your Harvest Hosts membership? When planning this ahead of time, you happen to notice that the route takes you by another Harvest Hosts location that offers fresh wine and cheese made on-site. You might not stay the night there, but you could certainly pick up some goodies that would go well with the fresh produce that will be at your Harvest Hosts stop for the evening.

By knowing these things in advance, you can make reservations and plan a great route, while still adding a measure of spontaneity. Seeing your route ahead of time allows you to notice something you would not have if you were just winging it and letting the GPS decide your vacation route for you. You can always be spontaneous while you are settled in at your campsite, enjoying local attractions that may interest you.

Start Planning with RV LIFE and Harvest Hosts

If you’re already a Planner but have not yet combined the power of Harvest Hosts with RV LIFE Trip Wizard, now’s the time!Harvest Hosts members looking to save 25% on their RV LIFE Pro subscription can start planning today with a new RV LIFE Pro membership.

RV LIFE Pro members who haven’t started using Harvest Hosts yet can start planning where to camp with a new Harvest Hosts membership. Whether you’re into farms and fairways or vineyards and vintage cars, there is a great Harvest Hosts location waiting for you.